Harry Potter, Version Two
by me11
Summary: A what if version of the series. What if the students were never sorted? Or, what if our favorite Trio was sorted differently... Possible RHr and DP to come, but is generally friendly to all ship possibilities.


Harry Potter, Version Two  
  
A/N: The idea for this fic came mostly from the Buffy episode The Wish, which is really unrelated to Harry Potter, but had an interesting concept to it. What if Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale? So, what if. . .  
  
Rating is still unsure, probably a PG-13 in later chapters, mostly for violence reasons.  
  
Ships: None for sure, probably a Draco/Pansy or a Ron/Hermione because I like them...  
  
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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry September 1, 1996  
  
Professor Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, prided herself on being fair and available to each and every one of her students. Despite their origins, houses or friends. Every year she led a group of small, eleven year old, students into the vast expansion of the Great Hall. With it's high enchanted ceiling, and looming tables full of students, the room never failed to cause the new first years to glance around awfully.  
  
For Minerva McGonagall, the few minutes before the sorting were her favorite of the entire school year. Before the old Sorting Hat was placed on the young children's heads, before they were quartered into the one of the four houses that populated the school, those children were all alike. They were all a part of one group; all wide eyed, wondering and mostly unaware of the obstacles that the school would throw in their ways. The friends that they made before the sorting could very well end up being a nemesis within only a few weeks; but they did not yet consider that.  
  
The small blonde girl that was talking nervously with the even smaller brunette had no idea that she was about to be placed in a rival house than her new friend. The muggle borns and the purebloods stood together in one large group, not really caring that it would not be long before life would begin to group them separately, both figuratively and metaphorically.  
  
Those children all shared common feelings, common thoughts, and common fears just then; they were all equal. All of them. For the next five minutes.  
  
Eventually, Headmaster Dumbledore gave her the signal to begin the sorting. The hat was placed on the old stool, directly in front of the professor's table. Just as it was done when Albus Dumbledore was sorted, just as it was done when Minerva McGonagall was sorted, and Tom Riddle, and Lucius Malfoy, and Harry Potter. . . these children were about to be divided.  
  
"When I call your name, please step up to be sorted," Minerva spoke out clearly and loudly. The former students quieted down out of habit, some peering at the stool expectantly, others looking to their plates longingly. She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to split the group up just yet. Despite knowing that it was her job to assist in the sorting, she could not help but look out at all of her students and wonder if this was best for them.  
  
Harry Potter, one of her Gryffindors, sat with his best friends (and housemates) Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. The three of them glaring over towards the Slytherin table, at Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and Pansy Parkinson. The Pure Bloods versus everyone else. If they hadn't been sorted, if they'd all been left in one large group, a group known simply as Hogwarts students, would their behaviors remain the same?  
  
If Parkinson and Granger hadn't been in different houses would they (both of them strong women in a predominantly boys world) have exchanged make-up tips? If Malfoy and Weasley hadn't been pitted against each other would they (both from old wizarding families and acutely aware of their world's histories and mistakes) have found a common ground?  
  
"Angleton, Celine," she announced. The little blonde girl stepped forward and placed the large hat onto her head, where it fell down past her eyes and began to question her. Celine Angleton was placed into Slytherin, and four minutes later her new friend, the even smaller brunette, Ainsley Stewart was placed into Gryffindor.  
  
All that Minerva could think during that night's dinner was, what if they were never sorted? What if they were all sorted differently? 


End file.
